Story TOpics

Kurt Suzuki had three passed balls in his first game catching knuckleballer R.A. Dickey for Atlanta this season, but committed just one in Dickey’s next eight starts. Dickey (3-3) makes his 10th start for the Braves in the series finale in San Francisco against Johnny Cueto (4-4) and the Giants.

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HOT ROOKIE

Rockies right-hander German Marquez will be the third straight rookie the Colorado Rockies have started against St. Louis in the series that concludes Sunday. The rookie trio of Antonio Senzatela, Kyle Freeland and Marquez seem to feed off of each other’s performances. Marquez is 3-0 with a 0.95 ERA over his last three starts.

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GOING DEEP

Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb starts Sunday at Minnesota after pitching seven innings in consecutive starts for the first time since September 2014. He missed 2015 and much of 2016 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.